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Torrentspy Disables Searching For US IPs
dr_strang writes "Torrent indexing site Torrentspy.com appears to have disabled torrent searches for IPs that originate in the United States. Instead of a results page, users are directed to this page, which states: 'Torrentspy Acts to Protect Privacy. Sorry, but because you are located in the USA you cannot use the search features of the Torrentspy.com website. Torrentspy's decision to stop accepting US visitors was NOT compelled by any Court but rather an uncertain legal climate in the US regarding user privacy and an apparent tension between US and European Union privacy laws."
I wonder if this can be accessed from the United States through Tor.
I also wonder if I have to start worrying about other sites blocking American users simply out of fear & safety from the United States MPAA/RIAA run court system? I used to feel sorry for Chinese people who had to suffer from their government's censorship and now I have to wonder if I'm going to start suffering from other servers censoring me based on my government's actions.
My work here is dung.
Someone create a privatized wiki-torrent where people can put up their own torrents. That way you can never be sued cause you're not responsible for the contents.
I was afraid that the lockout would affect Canada too, but it works just fine for me. So yeah, they have the whole localizing IP addresses thing down pat.
In related news, I get a banner add offering to help me "Find my real sex partner in WATERLOO". But how will Americans find their "real sex partners" without this valuable service?
"Live as if you'll die tomorrow." Ridiculous. You could die later today.
Alright, but maybe not. I'm a Canuck and I enjoy the fact that my country has a different view on this issue. I don't understand why the MPAA spends so much money and efforts against downloaders where they loose a majority of their money due to pirate bootleg copies being sold inside the USA and around the world? I wonder if the MPAA polled movie goers and found out how many that do download movies still go to movies in the Theatre? Has it increased their interest since movies became easy to download? Do they watch more movies they normally would of skipped otherwise because they're watching so much more on the Internet via their computer?
Also, isn't this kind of action biting the hand that feeds them? Didn't Napster actually increase sales because it stimulated interested in music? Could MPAA be suffering the same short-sighted vision because their top executives are disenfranchised from the general public?
Management is doing things right; leadership is doing the right things. - Peter F. Drucker
European laws are not as strict as the the US one's, and they are not really enforced a lot either. I think this will be seen more often in the future.
Actually quite the inverse. The European privacy laws are rather strict regarding who you're allowed to share the information with, and considering MPAA and RIAA are American monopolies... I'm sure you can see the clash of privacy laws. Privacy regarding information transfer is quite regulated in the EU. (Companies aren't allowed to give away your information in the EU, without your concent).
I can't imagine what law isn't as strict in Europe as US regarding privacy, but IANAIL (International Lawyer)
So if MediaSentry circumvented this protection method using the technique you describe, in order to "monitor" copyright infringement, we could sue them under the DMCA?
I stopped using torrentspy.com when they put up all those annoying ads on it. Their search has been pretty lame lately. Mininova, piratebay and a host of others offer a lot more. So good riddance, good bye Torrentspy.com. I hope you lose a lot of money from the lost ad revenue from US internet users.
Buhh bye!
Awesome. For those who didn't see it, his hidden message is "Shut up seriously sheesh!
It seems only searching is affected. You can browse the directories and go from there. Thankfully and strangely, searching adult torrents is not affected.
At the intersection of computation and biology.
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